Today’s readings remind us of the power and promise of the Eucharist. That in seeking reconciliation and celebrating the Eucharist, we are receiving confirmation and strength for our personal journeys. We are asked to believe without seeing and that our belief will lead us to everlasting life.

I am not a theologian. I am a scientist/businesswoman who spent the majority of my career developing therapies for life-threatening diseases. I have tried to be on the straight and narrow path with God, but have strayed more times than I’d care to admit. Yet, He has always welcomed me back home.

Being a data driven person, I’ve often wondered about believing in God without seeing Him. I’ve learned that if we slow down, look and listen, that we will find God all around us and working through us:

We are offered unconditional love and forgiveness not only from God, but from our families and friends. Sometimes we just have to allow ourselves to be forgiven

We are offered hope. Hope to begin anew, to heal, to make it through tough times. Hope that our dearly departed loved ones are in God’s loving embrace

God has blessed each of us with specific gifts that He wants us to share in order to take care of ourselves and others to the best of our abilities

People truly love and show immeasurable compassion – The selflessness & tirelessness of caregivers; donations of time and money to assist those in need; blood & organ donors; a small act of kindness to brighten someone’s day, which could be a turning point in their life…

​Celebrating the Eucharist is quite emotional for me as I think about God’s love and blessings. I also think about my shortcomings, continually pray for forgiveness and strength to be the best person I can possibly be. I feel the divine surge of the Holy Spirit through the Eucharist each week.

There is no doubt about what God is asking of us in the second reading (Eph 4:30–5:2): “All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us.”​God is inviting us to join him on a most wonderful journey. He wants us to learn from Him, live like Him, forgive like Him and love like Him. I hope to learn from those of you further down this spiritual path with God and welcome others who are thinking about putting yourfeet on the trail. There’s room for us all.

I’ve never lived long with hunger. I’ve gone on diets and had to stare at food I was choosing not to eat. I’ve done a lot of physical work and been peckish. I’ve occasionally skipped meals and been extra especially ravenous. But I’ve never lived with ongoing hunger; I’ve never dealt with famine. I may have said, even more than once, “I’m starving,” but that was exaggeration.

The people in today’s Gospel, though, almost certainly lived with hunger as a normal and recurring condition. Archeological evidence, from studies of graves from most of the ancient world, reveals that a majority of peasants, who made up the bulk of the world’s population until relatively recently, lived with hunger and protein deficiency.

Without modern technology and machinery, lacking metal plows and unable to afford beasts of burden, most subsistence farmers produced only enough, when all went well, to feed their families in a hand-to-mouth kind of way. They ate what the earth brought forth soon after it ripened. They then lived with hunger until the next crop came to maturity. Droughts and taxes often stressed the poor farming family to the breaking point.

When we hear of the dogged perseverance of the crowds around Jesus in today’s Gospel, as they sought to encourage him to repeat the wonderful multiplication of the loaves, where everyone had their fill, and there was still food left over, we have to look upon them sympathetically. It also leads us to recognize the point of this passage for us. We’re not desperate about food. Our physical hunger isn’t going to get in the way of our ability to hear what God has to say…but…we have our own blind spots, places where our gaping needs, hurts and anguish overshadows our willingness to attend to what the Lord would be with us and do for us.

There is an implicit invitation for each of us to bring the places of our greatest struggles into dialogue with our communion with our Lord Jesus.

Where can we find companionship in our loneliness? Communion. Where can we find strength to overcome the difficult? Communion. Where can we find comfort in our physical pain? Communion. Where will we find life when we feel like we’re dying inside? Communion.

In receiving the Bread of Life we’re not having God “do it for us,” we’re committing to do all that we do, be all we can be, with Jesus. It takes a conscious act when we receive to make this possible. It requires us to return to our spiritual and physical union with Jesus in the moment of our struggle. We need to remember that we are not alone and that Jesus is working in, with and through us, for our greater good and the building up of the Kingdom

Communing with Jesus is not to be done automatically or unconsciously. Jesus is bringing His whole self to it. We do well to bring our whole heart, body, mind and soul to receiving Him.Siempre adelante!​Fr. Patrick

Dear Friends,Every three years the readings we hear at mass focus for several weeks in the summer on the gift of the Eucharist – the source and summit of our life as Christians. The connection between the Old Testament readings and the corresponding gospel passages are rich during this time. Because becoming familiar with the Scripture readings before we hear them proclaimed at mass can be a very enriching spiritual practice, I offer the summary below of what we can expect in the coming weeks. Please take advantage of the U.S. Catholic Bishop’s website where you can read the full text of these readings and let them sink deep into your heart www.usccb.org

Week

OT

Gospel

17thSunday,July 29

2 Kings 4:42-44.Elisha, the man of God, insists on giving his people a gift of loaves: “For thus says the Lord, ‘they shall eat and there shall be some left over.’ And when they had eaten, there was some left over, as the Lord had said.”

John 6:1-15.Jesus instructs his disciples to feed a large crowd that had followed him using only five loaves and two fish from a boy in the crowd. Those suffice to feed over 5000, with 12 baskets left over.

​18thSunday,August 5

Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15. The Israelites, delivered from Egypt but not yet in the Promised Land, grumble for lack of food in the desert. The Lord sends manna from heaven and Moses tells them “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”

John 6:24-35. Jesus explains to the crowd that it was not Moses who gave their ancestors heavenly bread – it was his Father. When they ask for it always, Jesus replies: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger” [nor thirst].

19thSunday,August 12

1 Kings 19:4-8. The weary and discouraged prophet Elijah lies down in the desert, praying for death. An angel wakes him up and gives him food and drink: “Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!” Strengthened, Elijah walks forty days and nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

John 6:41-51. The Jews murmur among themselves about Jesus saying that he is the bread come down from heaven. He tells them that their ancestors ate manna in the desert but died, and that he is the living bread from heaven, that whoever eats this bread will live forever and that the bread he (Jesus) gives is “my flesh for the life of the world.”

​20thSunday,August 19

Proverbs 9:1-6. Wisdom has built her house and invited many to share in the feast she has prepared. ​Wisdom = The Word of God = Jesus Christ

John 6:51-58. Jesus says to the Jews quarreling over his declaration of himself as the bread of life that “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and blood is true drink.”

21stSunday,August 26

Joshua 24:1-2A, 15-17, 18B. Joshua, Moses’ successor, gathers all the tribes of Israel together and requires them to decide whether they will serve the Lord, or other “gods”. “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Israel decides to do the same.

John 6:60-69. Many of Jesus’ disciples struggle with what he has taught and “returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” When Jesus asks the Twelve if they also want to leave, Simon Peter answers “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Dear Parish Family,The summer is here and our recent heat wave made sure we knew it! I hope you all found a way to keep cool, whether it was in an air-conditioned shopping mall, splashing in a pool or enjoying the cool breeze at the beach. Maybe you treated yourself to a tasty frosted drink or ice cream cone. Our necessity to stay cool perhaps provided us with an opportunity to take a much-needed and enjoyable respite from our otherwise busy, same old same routine, a joy we may not have taken the opportunity to experience had the weather not been so extreme.

In our gospel today, Jesus tells his apostles after their return from preaching the good news and healing many, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” To put balance back in their lives they needed time to withdraw for a while to reflect, rest, pray, and be at peace. God the Father set the example, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation” (Gen 2:3). Jesus too “would withdraw to deserted places to pray” (Lk 5:16). While he was so available to all those in need, the poor, the sick, the outcasts, he knew there was a limit to his availability. He took the time to get away, to rest the body, mind and spirit, being at peace with the Father and the Holy Spirit, a gift he gives us too: “Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (Jn 14:27). His peace gives us salvation, wholeness, health, welfare, safety and balance.

As we make plans and set out on our summer vacations (or staycations), let us not miss the opportunity to recharge our inner selves. It is not about how many items we can check off our bucket list, and it should not be filled with stress in the planning and execution of our plans (I can’t help but think of the Griswolds in National Lampoon's Vacation). Consider a personal goal to take some time to rest, refocus and recharge our spiritual batteries, restoring balance in our lives, especially caregivers of children, parents, or others entrusted in our care. Find some time this summer, even if it is just 10 minutes a day, where you can have some quiet time to reconnect with God.

Last week while on vacation with my husband, we stopped at Margaret Dodd Park in Pismo Beach. The weather was perfect, the view was absolutely breathtaking and my husband practiced his guitar (yes, we take it everywhere). I had the gift of God's presence and his peace. I began to thank him for the beauty of his creation, but soon found myself in complete silence and feeling happiness and peace in His presence. I could have stayed there forever, but just like the apostles after they have rested, I must return to my ministry. Now with my spiritual battery recharged, I return filled with joy and excitement for my continued service and ministry. I even came home with new ideas for the new program year.

Here are some suggestions of what you can do in your “Retreat with God.” For those of you who have young children, planning some quiet, alone time may be a big challenge. Why not do it together, by spending ‘one quiet minute with God,' where your family can learn to listen for God's voice in the whisper. At first it may be more like 10 seconds, but that's okay. If you enjoy a good book, let your summer reading be an opportunity to be inspired by a saint’s life. If you enjoy the outdoors, find a beautiful and tranquil location where you see and feel the presence of God in his creation such as the beach, on a mountaintop, near a waterfall or a beautiful garden.

Once you are there, ask our Lord to join you, then, just be in His presence... don't speak, just listen, and enjoy the quiet. With every breath, breathe in the peace of the Holy Spirit. If getting out to nature is not your thing, consider visiting Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel or find another quiet space. If you love apps, try the 3 Minute Retreat by Loyola Press, or God Moment (3 random daily reminders to take a moment to pray) or perhaps a podcast is more your style. Do what works for you and allow your soul to be at peace.

Dear Faith Family,Happy summer to all of you!This Sunday’s gospel is a unique one. As you may know by now, I like to try to relate our Sunday readings to something that is relevant to us in our current lives. Upon first glance, it seems pretty difficult to do so with the instructions that Christ gives to the Apostles regarding sacks, tunics and sandals. It especially seems irrelevant to us when Jesus gives authority to the Apostles over unclean spirits.

While it seems tough to relate to, there is plenty in this reading that can help us share the love of Christ withothers.

I don’t know about you, but I can be timid when it comes to sharing my testimony to “random people.” There have been plenty of times in my life where I just assumed that people don’t have an interest or that they do not welcome my profession of faith. Looking back though, in plenty of those times where I was hesitant and didn’t utter a word, I missed out on a great opportunity to just knock on a door to see if I am welcomed. It is such a great disservice to our faith life to assume that everyone we speak to will not welcome your message.

Humility is rough; it is especially rough to exercise humility with a false idea of what it actually is. Father Patrick told me once that humility isn’t a denial of our gifts, but rather, an understanding of them. Once we understand our gifts, it is through humility that we know how effective and beautiful they can be. Especially in regard to sharing our story.

Yes, Jesus does let the Apostles know that there are some houses that will not welcome their message. But Jesus also doesn’t ask the Apostles to avoid those houses. In my worst times, I assume all houses hate my message. Because of that, I hesitate to knock on doors to share God. In this gospel message, I think Jesus is instructing us to not be afraid to be declined. If we lack this fear, then sharing our story will become an everyday occurrence.

So friends, be sure to share your story. Start with your friends and family and branch out from there. Let your faith be the most important part of your family, because it is through our faith that we have an understanding that we are all children of God and that we are loved. That seems like something worth sharing, even if we think no one wants to hear it.

Dear friends on the journey,In today’s gospel, we hear of Jesus’ return to his native homeland of Nazareth where he was surprisingly met with doubt and rejection by his own people. According to Mark, their lack of faith prevented them from encountering Jesus and experiencing his mighty deeds.

At times, we too might feel like we’re not really encountering Jesus or experiencing God in our lives, then we start doubting God and ourselves and asking: Do I have enough faith? Other times we can easily see Jesus in people and moments and feel God’s presence in our daily lives. Our faith journeys can be pendulums like that, faith then doubt and back again and we seem to be searching for ways to strengthen our faith in order to be aware of and feel God all around.​Recently I had the opportunity to go on a week-long silent retreat at Mary & Joseph Retreat Center in Palos Verdes, a much-needed time out free of worldly distractions and noise. God and I had many hours alone to reconnect and I was reminded of his incredible love for me. It was glorious!

I found that silence heightens the other senses. Eating with others in silence may seem awkward but your sense of taste fully experiences every flavor. Silence opens your eyes to the wonders of nature. I was reading when I looked up to notice a lizard doing push-ups on a wall! Silence affords the opportunity to feel the sun on your skin and the breeze in your hair. Silence helps to focus your breathe to smell flowers and food. Silence creates the space to hear birds, water, wind and most importantly silence allows God’s still voice to be heard, reminding you that you are his beloved child, wonderfully made in his image.

SilenceSilence vibrating is CreationSilence flowing is LoveSilence shared is Friendship Silence seen is InfinitySilence heard is the Name of God Silence expressed is Beauty Silence maintained is Strength Silence omitted is Suffering Silence experienced is Peace Silence recorded is Sacred Scripture Silence preserved is the Spiritual Path Silence given is GraceSilence received is JoySilence perceived is Wisdom Silence stabilized is Realization Silence alone IS

So then, this time of silence results in a heightened awareness of God’s presence all around – in nature, in people, in moments of fun, joy, sadness, even silliness. The more we notice and encounter God, the abundant blessings, gratitude, generosity, appreciation, positivism we will experience. This does not mean pain or loss subsides but our increased awareness of God gets us through. We have hope instead of doubt. Our faith increases and we’re open to receive his mighty deeds.

I challenge all of us this week to carve out at least 10 minutes of silence a day to be with God, simply enjoying one another’s company then see what comes your way.

With summer and our vacations almost upon us, I thought I’d take a moment to give you some encouragement to make your summer time special and close to God!

It’s so important to bring a spirit of deep gratitude to God with you on vacation. So, before you travel, I encourage you to visit masstimes.org, where you can enter almost any place you will travel, even outside the U.S. You’ll get a google map with markers of the local Catholic churches and their times for Masses and confessions throughout the week, as well as a link to their webpages, if they have any. There are also some Mass-time apps for you to investigate. So plan some time on your Sunday mornings for Mass.

If you’ll be visiting with friends or family in far-off places, let them know that worshipping God on Sunday morning is a priority. Most will make an effort to accommodate you. Your expressing this interest is a form of evangelizing them – proclaiming the powerful place God has in your life.

If you can, keep the bulletins from the churches you visit and share them with me when you return. I learn all kinds of things from reviewing other parishes’ activities in their bulletins.

By the way, many cruises have Catholic chaplains offering Mass on-board.

On a different note, I encourage you to get a paperback Bible and put it in the trunk of your car, or download the Bible to your iPhone, perhaps the New American Bible, Revised Edition, which has an app for only $2.99. Put a post-it note at Psalm 104, to pray when you’re in the mountains or at the ocean – It’s a beautiful hymn of praise for all of God’s creation. Another would be Psalm 66, especially verses 614, when at the ocean or in a place where farmers bring forth food from the earth. If you’re ever in a place where you can see the Milky Way, have Psalm 8 close to hand and recount the glory of God’s heavens. Perhaps, in a place of wild beauty, you’ll want to simply reread the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1, on the creation of the world. A really special thing to do, in a place of wild beauty, with the spouse you love passionately, is to read the Song of Solomon together. The NABRE puts a “W” where the woman is to read, and an “M” where the man is supposed to read. There are some comical moments, comparing one’s wife to a mare, or one’s husband to an apple tree, but there are even more expressions that are beautiful. If flying gets to you, Psalm 91 is a lovely prayer for God’s calming assistance.

If you’re interested in a book to share with your small children on a road trip, take a look at Does God Know How to Tie Shoes, by Nancy White Carlstrom.

If you’re going to spend time with family and friends, consider avoiding politics for a while longer. Everyone’s feeling a bit fragile, and it’s so easy to spoil a good time with talk on divisive issues. Give yourself permission to kindly, kindly, tell your kin that you’d rather talk about something else.

I hope you have the most wonderful journeys. It might be nice, though, to give yourself some time to really rest. God rested at the end of Creation. Leave some time for that in whatever vacation time you have. Remember, if you don’t have any vacation time coming, that if you run down to Point Mugu with a beach chair and a sandwich and whatever else you want to snack on, you can give yourself a mini-vacation at a place of spectacular beauty. We are so lucky to live where we do!

As your father, I need to remind you to put on your sunscreen and have amazing adventures.

In the last few weeks many of us have been celebrating the promotions and graduations of the young people in our lives. We are filled with pride and are so hopeful for their future. We are confident that they will achieve great things. What will they become?

In the same manner, parents who are expecting the birth of their child are filled with so much love and expectations for the future. Carefully choosing the name, one which will give them much success. And with so much hope we ask, who will this child grow up to be?

This Sunday, we are reminded that God calls each of us for a special purpose. Today we celebrate the nativity of St John the Baptist, chosen before his birth, given a name by God. A name that means “God is gracious.” A name that made others question, “What will this child be?” We now know his mission was to prepare the way for the Lord.

Like John the Baptist, the twelve disciples, and many of the saints, the call and task were extraordinary within the history of salvation. We too have been called, most of us the call and task are more ordinary. Using their lives as our examples of how to live our life of faith.

Let us ask ourselves, who will we be? What is God’s mission for me?

With full confidence, living our faith in our homes and work, with our friends and families. In our ordinary actions and words, in our successes, defeats, joys and sorrows, with God in the center of all our thoughts and actions, may we lead others to our Lord. For each and every one of us have been given certain gifts and abilities to live out our mission. And if we lose confidence, let us remember today’s Psalm: “I praise you for I am wonderfully made. Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works.”

Dear Friends,As I look at this weekend’s readings, and think about being a dad, a grandfather and a son, a few themes emerge and I’d like to share them with you, in case they’d be useful.

PatienceIn the second reading from Paul’s 2nd letter to the Corinthians, the apostle acknowledges the tension of living in the here and now, and yet living by faith: “… we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord. Therefore we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense, according to what s/he did in the body, whether good or evil.” Clearly patience is required to live with this tension. Patience is also required of fathers, grandfathers and sons. I don’t mean only the patience a father must have as his children grow and learn and make mistakes along the way. I mean also the patience that fathers must learn to have with themselves, grappling with the truth that they are not perfect any more than their children are, nor than their own fathers were. The stakes are unbelievably high, though, when it comes to raising our children and we so badly want to get it right from the beginning. In Hearts On Fire, Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. puts it this way:Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient on the way to something unknown, something new.

AllowingIn our first reading from Ezekiel, we are reminded that the LORD operates in ways beyond our understanding: “I, the LORD, bring low the high tree, lift high the lowly tree, wither up the green tree, and make the withered tree bloom.” Dads know what it is to see our children turn out differently than we had planned, or to arrive at a good place but by a route we had not foreseen, nor endorsed! If our children, who are really only on loan to us, don’t succeed in some way to teach us to allow God to operate in his sometimes strange ways, then I don’t know who or what will. Chardin continues:And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability – and that it may take a very long time. And so I think it is with you; your ideas mature gradually – let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undue haste. Don’t try to force them on, as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make of you tomorrow.

TrustIn today’s passage from Mark’s gospel, Jesus tells the parable of a man who scatters seed on the land and goes about his business, rising and sleeping, night and day, trusting that through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.Since the man’s livelihood, indeed his life are dependent on what happens “of its own accord,” that is, the land yielding fruit for the harvest, it’s clear that trust is in play here. And so it is with fathers, and grandfathers and sons. It may be that we come to trust in God only with great struggle. It may be that we have to renew that struggle daily, or maybe in different seasons of our lives. But trust we must. Chardin concludes:Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be. Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that hishand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

And why are we counseled to accept this anxiety and to trust? Because “of its own accord, the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”So, our children, our dads, ourselves … one way or another we all become ripe for the harvest, in God’s mysterious way, in God’s time.

​Today’s readings are challenging and present us some serious issues to consider. The first reading shows us that, upon creation, God gave us free will and what happens when we choose our will over God’s. In the gospel, Jesus said that a kingdom which is divided cannot stand. He was also rocking the boat, challenging the societal norms, the status quo and creating uneasiness.

Division seems to be a word used a lot lately about the world, politics, economics, society, religion, communities, families and in our own selves. Divisions among and in these arenas are causing some shaky ground these days. The news is filled with stories of conflict. Perhaps they don’t directly affect our daily living, but they certainly impact our internal balance and how we view our sisters and brothers in God’s family. It’s a challenge to view the world, not just through our fuzzy lens, but as God views his beloved creation.

We may have inherited this division, but God has never left us alone with it. Throughout salvation history, God has given us ample opportunities and solutions to combat and heal the divisions in and around us, the best and most complete of all being Jesus, our redeemer, brother, healer, teacher, friend, and guide. In recent weeks, we’ve celebrated Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, but he did not leave us alone there. He gave us the Holy Spirit, the powerful working of the Trinity and Jesus’ ongoing presence in the Eucharist. Other God-given “resources” to help us to discern God’s will in our own personal lives and how we view the world around us include prayer, scripture, tradition, church teaching, and the saints.

I know it’s super cliche but I honestly believe in the help of one simple question: What would Jesus do? Honestly though, this question has assisted me many times, especially when I couldn’t seem to make sense of a situation. What does God want me to do? What would Jesus do?

What would Jesus do if people from other lands came to his neighborhood? What would Jesus do if he was a baker asked to make a cake? What would Jesus do about a billion hungry people? What would Jesus do for the homeless person? What would Jesus do for the newly released prisoner? What would Jesus do for abused children, women and elderly? What would Jesus do about the bully in the classroom? What would Jesus do for the lonely, isolated teen? What would Jesus do about the annoying neighbor? What would Jesus do for a loved one who doesn’t believe or go to church? What would Jesus do with a disagreeable family member? What would Jesus do for you? What would Jesus do for me?

Jesus would love. That’s it.

Maybe the unsteady ground is good for it causes us to think and question the status quo and external influences. Only when we follow God’s will and stand on gospel values will we experience stability.

Thank you for all of your support for our teens during the Confirmation process. Last weekend, our Confirmation liturgy was a wild success as more than 100 teens and adults received the Seal of the Holy Spirit.

Throughout the process, we always tell the Confirmation candidates that once they are Confirmed, that it is not the end of their formation, but rather, it is the beginning of their journey. Sometimes with the hubbub of a long catechetical process, we tend to forget the goal of Confirmation — to ask the Holy Spirit to equip us to “make disciples of all nations.” Yes, it is a call for all of us as Christians, but with Confirmation we ask the Holy Spirit to assist us in this journey.

So what does that mean, exactly? How do we make disciples of all nations? As you already know, it is within our parish mission statement to “encounter Jesus, be disciples” and within our mission lies our first step. To encounter Jesus Christ. How do we do this? I’m not sure when it happens, but I do know that it only happens when we seek Him. Once we do, the walls are torn down and our mission begins.

I wish making disciples was cut and dry with easy instruction, but once we encounter Jesus, we learn about ourselves in a deeper way, especially in the way that God calls us to share His good news. So does that mean some of us are called to go door to door to invite people to church? Yes, but this may not be some of us. Are some of us called to form our families in Christian values so they can set the world on fire? Yes, but some of us may not have families. As you can see, there are a multitude of ways that we can pursue this mission, but it is always most important to ask our God how he wants us to doit; he definitely created us with gifts in mind to share the promise of salvation.

If you’re still confused on how to share the love of God, welcome to the club. I’m convinced it is a journey that lasts throughout our lifetimes. This is why a strong community of believers who are willing to support is vital to this mission. I don’t have to explain where to get that, I’m pretty sure we get that here.

So continue on the mission, friends. I’ll be praying for you as I hope that you are praying for me. It is officially ordinary time in our Church calendar. Let’s not let it be ordinary though, let’s use this time to show the world that Jesus invites us to Hischurch, even when it’s no longer Easter or Advent.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.This beautiful, simple prayer is the first prayer I learned at age 3. It is probably one of the first prayers learned by most Catholic children around the world. It is pure Catholic prose complete with gestures! I was proud to practice, slowly, and finally figure out the hand motions … top of the forehead, deep down to the middle of the chest near the heart, then as far as I could reach from shoulder to shoulder, first the left then the right. Milestone conquered!

As a child, I imagined the sign of the cross as an invisible shield that helped me to be brave and strong in my faith and in my relationship with God. As an adult, the description of the vertical movement equating to my relationship with God and the horizontal movement pointing to my relationship with humankind is a wonderful reminder of our connectedness and our duty to those relationships. I make the sign of the cross 10 or 12 times a day. It reminds me who I am and whose I am. I find great comfort in that connection, that sense of belonging to something with deep meaning and great future, belonging to Jesus.

Today, our parish is blessed to have 105 candidates for Confirmation, receive the sign of the cross on their foreheads as Bishop Barron anoints them with oil and says, “Be sealed with the Holy Spirit.” With this sign and their response, these young people are making a milestone in their own lives, saying ‘yes’ to Jesus and a Christian way of life. Let’s support and encourage them and show them it can be done!

It has been one of my life’s great joys to be a member of the Padre Serra Parish staff alongside wonderful pastors, coworkers and volunteers in the vineyard of our parish home. I have worked hard and tried to give creative energy and physical might to help carry forward the richness our founders began. I am proud of our people and our accomplishments. Now, after more than 15 years on staff, I am retiring at the end of June.

I am ready for the next phase, the next milestone, with a heart wide open to whatever God has planned for me. I will continue to belong to our beautiful parish community as a participant and volunteer! I look forward to grandchildren and vegetable gardens, time to read, walk on the beach, travel the world, to being a homemaker making-home for my husband and family and even writing a book or two. Big and happy changes!

One thing remains the same, the commitment made for me at my Baptism and by me at my Confirmation, to find Jesus in the experiences of our lives and to share his love with others. I loved my job and appreciated the opportunities to see Jesus’ hand in the daily decisions, activities and people. I loved getting to know so many of you, thank you for sharing your lives with me. For those whom I have had the privilege to minister to in Faith Formation, especially those in youth and young adult ministry, I loved loving you, as a mom loves her kids, helping them grow and letting them go.

Jesus said, “I will be with you always.” I have seen him in all of you. Amen.

The descent of the Holy Spirit as tongues of fire on the disciples at that first Pentecost lit the world on fire with God’s presence. That fire has not gone out, as is evident in the many quiet ways parishioners throw themselves into serving God in their care for one another. The work of the parish needs many hands. Some of it is clearly ministerial, as with those who assist in worship, teach children, or provide for the poor. Other hands, though, assist in practical ways to support our life together, often acting quietly to provide us a well-cared for parish campus, or to supply our needs.

(1) I’d like to draw your attention to the back pages of our bulletin/worship aid, to the many people who support the parish quietly, providing us this tool for singing. It’s also one of our primary sources of information on the life of the parish. A very quick survey of those back pages reveals nineteen advertisers I recognize as our own fellow parishioners. Their generosity assists our parish pray and keep informed. I am deeply grateful, and encourage you to continue your parish life by supporting them when you need the many services they supply.

(2) On a different note, I was standing in the parking lot with a parishioner, recently, who pointed out how beautiful everything looked. Parking lots are not often associated with beauty, and yet it’s true (even as our tipuana tipu trees are losing their leaves in their annual molt) – it must be the most attractive place to park a car in Camarillo. That is not an accident. I want to acknowledge quiet heroes, Winifred Jordan, Katherine Kruse and Mickey Hirsch, who volunteer as highlevel gardeners. They have been artfully sculpting our plants, not only in the parking lot, but also in our splendid Stations of the Cross garden, fashioning with care places that are green and life giving where we can breathe in the beauty of growing things. They’ve been volunteering for us for almost four years. We all have reason to be grateful.

(3) On a similar note, essential to the everyday workings of the parish, several parishioners have made themselves available to Dcn Neil Kingsley, who keeps everything in the parish running. When Christmas trees need to be moved, when a second set of hands are needed, when chairs need to be set up, when the seasonal decorations in the church need changing, he has a wonderful crew of volunteers who step up and help out. I’d like to recognize the following men, who I’ve seen working with Neil many times over the years, including Frank Staben, Marty McConnell, Dave Gutierrez, Chuck Bueker, George Marien, and Chuck Mink. Heartfelt gratitude to all of you for what you do for us!

These quiet heroes aren’t seeking our thanks. They love their God, they have a commitment to their parish, and they are willing to step up and make a difference. It pleases me to thank them anyway, and to invite you to celebrate, with me, their goodness.

Perhaps you have a gift that the parish can use. Be quick to step up, taking ownership of this community’s needs. Be a blessing. Take part in setting the world on fire.​Siempre adelante,Fr. PatrickPastor

Dear Padre Serra Family,​Happy Mother’s Day! It brings me great joy and love to write this week about two of my favorite things, Mary and Moms. This is my second official Mother’s Day but my first one with Regina Scully Becker (Reggie) outside the womb. It also is my mom and Reggie’s birthday month which makes this month very special. But the best thing about the month of May is that it is dedicated to our mother, Momma Mary.

Being a mother has been the greatest sacrifice I have ever encountered. During my time as a new first time mom I find myself praying for guidance, strength and love and Momma Mary’s intercession. She is the ideal mother after all. My devotion and respect for her has continued to grow as Reggie grows. She is kind, calm and only lost her son once (and we all know Jesus was supposed to be with Joseph). She gives everyone love and comfort, and most importantly she points us straight to her son, Jesus. She is a great example of love and a great evangelist.

Mary was one of Jesus’ first disciples. Mary followed and believed in Him throughout his life, and like all moms, she talked about him to everyone she knew. She shows us how much God can love us. Without Mary, there would be no Jesus. The sacrifice she made by saying yes to being willing to be pregnant with the Son of God without being married was hard. She struggled. But she didn’t give up. She didn’t even throw in the towel once. She continued to strive for holiness and with being born without sin, she shows us our full potential if we live in true love with God.

So, to all moms out there, thank you. Thank you for the late nights, the early mornings and for sacrificing. You are doing the work of God. As St. Therese of Lisieux says, “Holiness consists simply in doing God's will, and being just what God wants us to be.” God wants us moms to be just that. Moms.

Now, let us end this beautiful Mother’s Day by praying to our heavenly Momma for her intercession and for us to grow a little closer to Jesus today.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. AMEN!

Today we are reminded of our life’s purpose, to love one another as God has loved us. We were created out of love and for love. If we have experienced love in our lives, we have known God, for God is love.

There are many kinds of love. Love for parent, child, spouse, friends, even love for our pets. Each love is special and forms a connection with those we love, wanting their happiness more than our own. The experience of love in our lives empowers us, it fills us with joy and happiness, strength, courage and even self-giving sacrifices. It is the force that drives us, essential to our survival. It is an internal attitude which influences every single thing we do, say and think.

It is easy to love those who love us, like our friends and family or those we admire. I think that when Jesus gives us the commandment to love one another, this is not who he was referring to. It is an automatic response to immediately think of those we love, and their needs. The challenge is to love those who are hard to love. Those who reject us, the stranger, the poor, the sick, the immigrant, or the criminal. They are God’s beloved too. Created in God’s image, with dignity. They too are the body of Christ. We are called to love as God loves, unconditionally.

When we act out of love for one another, we seek to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters. Through love we are connected and their needs are our needs. We teach love by loving. Let us actively seek those who are in need of love, and show them love and kindness.​Siempre Adelante,Tere DelgadoFaith Formation Minister

In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles we hear that [Saul] “moved about freely with them in Jerusalem, and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord. He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists, but they tried to kill him.” Just a few verses later we hear “The church … was at peace.” For some reason this juxtaposition strikes me as funny. But there is great coherence in the Liturgy of the Word between the readings, nevertheless. At the end of this passage from Acts we hear that the church “was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers.”

In John’s gospel today, Jesus tells his disciples, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower … You are already pruned [by my Father] because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you … because without me you can do nothing … [but] if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”

And the author of the first letter of John (widely believed to be the same author as that of the fourth gospel) tells us that we must love in deed and truth, keeping God’s commandments to believe in Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded.

I think the introduction to the first letter of John on the U.S. Bishop’s website www.uscb.org/bible/1john/0 provides some useful food for reflection on not only that reading but on the others for today as well:

“… authentic Christian love, ethics, and faith take place only within the historical revelation and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The fullness of Christian life as fellowship with the Father must be based on true belief and result in charitable living; knowledge of God and love for one another are inseparable, and error in one inevitable affects the other.Although the author recognizes that Christian doctrine presents intangible mysteries of faith about Christ, he insists that the concrete Christian life brings to light the deeper realities of the gospel.”​So what are some possible “takeaways” (pardon the jargon) from today’s readings for us, the community of Padre Serra Parish in Camarillo, in 2018? How about these:

Listening to and reading the Word of God are really, really important. It’s not an accident that as branches of the true vine we are pruned by the word that I (Jesus) spoke to you. And of course any gardener knows that branches that are pruned produce more fruit.

The fruit we’re talking about here is love for one another, but not just for our comfortable little community. It’s love for the most difficult members of our families. It’s love for the great crowds we see in church perhaps only on Christmas and Easter. It’s love for politicians with whom we disagree and whose actions and words we may find repugnant. It’s love for immigrants and refugees, for the elderly and the unborn, for the prisoner and the homeless. Mary Chapin Carpenter wrote a song called “Stones in the Road” and the lyrics include this:

​The “starving children” have been replaced by souls out on the streetWe give a dollar when we pass, and hope our eyes don’t meet.

Remaining in Jesus via Word and Sacrament is no less and no more important than caring for Jesus in all those we encounter. Without Jesus, “we can do nothing.” But pruned by the Word, we can bear abundant fruit for the life of the world.

So, brothers and sisters, let’s encourage one another continually along the way.

Dear Parish Family,There is so much we can say of our Sunday Gospel this week, I will keep it simple. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who showed us total self-giving love. For some of us, it’s hard to understand the sacrifices that a good shepherd was willing to make for his flock. A hired hand is there for the pay, at the sign of danger abandons the sheep, he has no investment with the sheep in his care. A good shepherd loves his sheep, living alongside of them for many years, knowing each one. He would see to the needs of his sheep, guiding them where to eat and drink, finding shelter from the weather, even risking his life to protect the sheep from wolves or thieves. A good shepherd knows his sheep and they know his voice, they trust him and follow him. He cares for his sheep not out of obligation but of love.

For those of us who have only seen sheep or shepherds at the county fair, perhaps it is easier to understand this kind of self-giving love, in the relationship of a parent and his child. In the second reading we are reminded, “Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.” We are His Children, his beloved. As his children, no sacrifice is too much. When I was a child my parents worked in the fields, at times leaving the house as the sun was rising and back as it was setting. A hard job and low wage, to be able to provide for my siblings and me. Even after they got home, they did not have the luxury to put their feet up and rest. Together they would take on the daily house tasks, mom making sure we ate together a warm healthy dinner, dad would make sure we had done our homework and have us share our day’s adventures. I remember dad always keeping up the yard, watering the grass and flowers. Why would he add another task to his already exhausted body? He did this because he wanted us to have a place to play and knew how much my mom loved the roses in the garden. Sundays, their only day off, after church, we would pack up the car and go to the park or beach. I am sure they would much rather have stayed home and slept in. I don’t remember ever hearing themcomplain about how tired they were. I am able to see all their sacrifice was done not out of obligation but out of love. I am sure you have many similar stories of your own. No sacrifice is too big for those you love.

This Sunday is also Vocation Sunday, we pray for our priest and Church leaders who are caring for the souls, who go out and gather the lost sheep to bring back to God’s loving embrace. And for all the many good shepherds in our lives, who are given the responsibility of caring for others, may we all be his good sheep, listening attentively to his voice, and follow his example of self-giving love. Inspiring others to follow him especially in the vocation of priesthood or religious life. Jesus the Good Shepherd is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Let us as followers of Jesus, be witnesses to his resurrection, and do all things with love.​Siempre adelante,Tere DelgadoFaith Formation Minister

This Sunday’s Gospel is quite interesting to me. I love how it opens with two disciples discussing their previous encounter with Jesus. A lot of us are blessed to have encounters with God; many of us have had an instance in our lives where God was present and it gives us fuel as we live our lives as disciples. But what makes this Sunday’s Gospel interesting, is that Jesus approaches them in the present and they are filled with anxiety.

I find this part of the Gospel relevant to our lives because we sometimes think of the past times where we have experienced God’s love, and also fail to realize how God reveals himself in the present.

I’ve been blessed with encounters of God on various retreats and I tend to hold these encounters close to my heart. There is absolutely nothing wrong thinking back to a time where God’s love was tangible and vibrant, and like I said, it is great fuel for our mission as disciples. Sometimes though, there is a temptation to only focus on those times and not recognize how God is calling us to mission in the present moment. In fact, when Jesus appears to the disciples, it says that they were “startled and terrified.” I think it’s common for us to feel this way as well.

It is normal to be a bit scared of what God is calling us to do in our everyday lives. But I think it should give us some sense of peace to know that His disciples felt the same way at times. It is nice knowing that we may share some insecurities that the disciples also had. In the Gospel their literal encounter with the resurrected Christ had them feeling startled and terrified. But when Jesus says “peace be with you,” to the disciples in this passage, he also is directing that toward us, His currentdisciples.

So faith family, I invite you all to lift each other up during this Easter Season and to help each other not only share your personal, past accounts of God’s grace, but to also show each other how God is currently present in our lives, calling us to share His loving message and to have a meal with Him.

Although discipleship can be scary sometimes, every time we encounter Christ, I pray that we allow ourselves to be at peace with the encounter and to have the bravery to go touch his wounds and have a meal with Him.​​​Happy Easter everybody!​Brett BeckerYouth and Young Adult Minister

Every week the Pastoral Team, including me, takes turns writing the message of the week. It is generally based on the message in the gospel for the day. Often we have another point or two to incorporate. It is amazing when the gospel message, God’s message, pulls it all together.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention month and it is my turn to write the letter. How do I make it relate? Every April we generally talk about the many ways that we as a parish help to prevent child sexual abuse, through the positive use of fingerprinting and training, campus assessments, committee meetings, and teaching the children what to watch for and guard against.

I remember the first time I taught Teaching Touching Safety training more than a decade ago as mandated by theArchdiocese of Los Angeles and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. I prepared for weeks. I attended the certification training, watched all the videos, read all the material and finally, spent days writing the lesson plans for grades 1 through 12. I was well prepared and… I was angry.

I was angry that a few depraved people had changed the game for everyone else. Thousands, millions of innocent children now had to put up with angry, anxious, apprehensive middle-aged women like me who were mandated to teach them about safe and unsafe touches. I teamed with my friend, volunteer and fellow parishioner Dr. Lisa Barra to conduct the training. When I saw those beautiful, sweet faces looking at me so trusting, something clicked. I realized what I was doing was not about the perpetrators, the darkness; this was about these children, the light. I had to equip these kids. I had to empower them to keep themselves safe. It quickly became perfectly natural to tell the children that Jesus loves them so much, he wants them to be happy. To help them in life, Jesus gave them lots of loving, trusted adults to care for them. So if they are not happy, or even a little uncomfortable, they need to tell.

The apostles knew to expect Jesus to suffer and die. They were not prepared for what came next, Jesus’ appearance in the upper room. He came to them with a message of peace. He breathed on them. That same breath surrounds us still today. That same breath animates us to do the work of God, to love one another, to see beauty and sweetness in the people around us.

All of us carry burdens and heartaches of our own or those of people we love. If you are a victim of abuse, please call the Victims Assistance Ministry office (213) 637·7650. If you have a heartache of a completely different nature, talk to your “trusted adult” or please call the parish office and ask to speak with Teresa Runyon who will connect you with a support group, therapist, deacon or priest. If you need to go to confession, please come to church any Saturday at 3:45pm.

Jesus loves you so much he wants you to be happy. After the cross, there is work and there is joy.​Siempre adelante,​Eve CollierParish Life Minister

The rains have come, at last. Our hills and mountains are taking on a beautiful shade of green, and flowers will soon begin to bloom. The wildflowers come in waves over the next few months, before the warmth of summer drives them back into dormancy. I was hiking last year in the Santa Monica Mountains, maybe a mile from the Ray Miller trailhead, when I took the picture below. We have to enjoy the flowers when they are growing, as they fade so quickly.

The new life on our hillsides comes along at just the right time this year to serve us as a metaphor, not only for the Risen Christ, but also for what’s possible in our own lives when we commit ourselves to the ancient spiritual path of the Christian life. It was always our Lord’s intent that we, too, would experience in our lives, here on earth, constant renewal and growth.

We would also like to burst forth in renewed, life giving ways:

to be good spouses and parents

to be individuals committed to integrity

to succeed professionally in ways consistent with our beliefs and morals

to develop healthy friendships

to be respectful of legitimate authority

to have rich and nourishing prayer lives

to shepherd our resources judiciously, preparing well for our children’s educations and our own retirements

to care for our own bodies through a judicious diet and regular exercise

to be on constant lookout for beauty

to be aware of our many reasons for gratitude

to experience joy

My prayer for you this Easter is that the renewal we experience all around us in nature, and that we celebrate as the triumph of our Lord Jesus over death, finds its way into your life as well. I pray that you flourish, even blossom, especially in those places where you recognize the need to grow. I look forward to journeying with you this year, together, as God’s Easter people, ever filled with hope.

During these weeks of Lent, we’ve been preparing ourselves through fasting, prayer, and almsgiving so that we might open ourselves more fully to God’s presence in our lives. This has been a journey. So here we are now on Palm Sunday, hearing the story of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, his passion and his death. It’s a story we’ve heard many times before. We know how it begins and how it ends. But I invite you to consider experiencing Jesus’ journey, passion, death, and resurrection this Holy Week.

Today, like the crowds of Jesus’ time, we carry palms and praise him but during the Passion we are reminded that we are all sinners in need of God’s salvation. Today put your palms in a place that will be a constant reminder of your journey from the darkness of sin to God’s eternal light.

In Monday’s gospel, we hear the story of Jesus’ meal with Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. Judas the Iscariot criticizes Jesus for allowing Mary to use a costly perfumed oil to anoint his feet when it could have been sold “for three hundred days wages and given to the poor.” Jesus responds, “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” This is our reminder that we will never lack opportunities to give ourselves in imitation of Jesus to serve the poor. This week share more of your God-given gifts to help those in need.

In John’s account of the Last Supper in Tuesday’s gospel, Jesus announces that one of his disciples will betray him, leaving them all asking, “Is it I?” We know how the story goes: Judas betrays Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. But, really, haven’t we all betrayed Jesus at one time or another in our lives? Today, identify and resolve to overcome those behaviors that betray God.

In Wednesday’s gospel, Jesus instructs his disciples to prepare a place for the Passover meal, his Last Supper. Today is a good day to reflect on how this Lenten journey has helped us prepare a room for Jesus in our lives. Identify what worked and how you can continue that practice beyond Easter.

On Holy Thursday we celebrate the Last Supper, the institution of the Eucharist, the sacrament in which we receive his body and blood, and the priesthood through the washing of the disciples’ feet. This evening we celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper (7:00pm), a beautiful liturgy that reminds us of our call to be Jesus’ disciples, washing the feet of others in service and receiving the life giving food that sustains us in that service. This evening is a good opportunity to renew or commit to being a true disciple of Jesus.

Our Holy Week journey continues to Good Friday, the day Jesus suffered and died. Make a commitment to experience the Lord’s passion by attending one of our Good Friday liturgies (12:00 or 7:00pm) and the Living Stations of the Cross (1:45pm). Reflect today on how you have grown closer to God through your experience of physical or emotional suffering.

Holy Saturday is the night in which God turned death to life. Appropriately, at the Easter Vigil, we baptize new Christians and accept them into full communion with the church. Through the waters of baptism, they “die” to their old life and joyfully join themselves to Christ, to new life. If you’ve never been to an Easter Vigil, I invite you next Saturday (7:30pm). This night discern what needs to die in your life so that you may be joined more fully with Christ.

By experiencing Holy Week and allowing ourselves to enter into Jesus’ suffering, we can truly experience the joy of Easter Sunday when resurrected life begins, when love and light triumph over sin and darkness. At our Easter morning liturgy, the “Alleluia” will never sound so good or be more profound in our hearts.

I want to share some thoughts and reflections with you about our worship, an important part of which is singing together – all of us! We’ve heard Fr. Patrick on several occasions encourage us to sing at mass. He’s even cited Scriptures where God commands us to do so. Yet some of us still are reluctant, or uncomfortable, and sing very softly, or maybe not at all.

Have you noticed how the singing of the National Anthem at sporting events has changed over the years? It used to be that everyone in the stadium stood, put their hand over their heart, and sang, perhaps accompanied by the organ at Dodger Stadium, or by a marching band at a football game. But how often do we see that now? Almost never. Instead, the singing of the National Anthem has become an event at which one person performs for the rest of us. S/he sings, and we stand there with our hands over our hearts (maybe) and then applaud. The next day we take to social media and dissect the performance.

Shows like “The Voice” and “American Idol” reinforce the notion that singing is a specialized activity reserved only for the chosen few. But this is a very recent development in human history and one that I think robs us of our ownership of and our comfort with communal singing and its beneficial effects. Singing together in community can lower blood pressure, relieve stress, reduce heart rate, and cause endorphins to be released that create a sense of wellbeing.It is not necessary that the singing be perfect, just that it be together. Fr. Patrick recently reminded us that all of God’s commandments are intended for our benefit because God loves us. I’m sure the commandment to sing our praises to God is no exception.

Perhaps bearing in mind that we are singing primarily for the God who created us, who loves us, and who knows us better than we know ourselves – and who has commanded us repeatedly in the Scriptures to do so – can help us. A shift in our perception of the different roles at mass may be called for here.

I think many of us have the notion that we are the audience; that the priest, lector, cantors, servers, deacons, etc. are the performers; and that God is the “executive producer” of the show. But the truth is that God is the Audience and that all of us are called to be performers for one another’s benefit and for God’s pleasure. Of course it is also true that the mass is the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest offered to the Father by the Holy Spirit. And it is also still true that Jesus Christ is present at mass in the person of the priest, in the proclaimed Word of God, in the Eucharist . . . and, yes, in the gathered Body of Christ – you and me and all of us.

Last weekend’s responsorial psalm asked “how could we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?” The Chosen People had been exiled from the Promised Land to Babylon and one of the ways their captors there tormented them was by asking them to “sing the songs of Zion.” They thought back longingly to the temple in Jerusalem where they worshipped the LORD, singing together in happier days.

Maybe those of us who still feel resistance to the idea of singing at all, particularly in a way where anyone else can hear us, could step out in faith and just try, this Lent and Easter season, to move beyond our comfort zone for the sake of the worship the Lord asks us for. It could transform the experience of celebrating the liturgy together for all of us.

Dear friends on the journey,Think back to your childhood. What was your image of God when you were a kid? Now go to your teen or college years. What was your image or impression of God then? Was it any different from your early childhood? What did God mean for you at that time?

What’s your image of God today, as an adult? Has it evolved from your early years? Or is it the same? Is your grownup image a God one of judgement and harshness? Or is yours a loving God? I really hope this is the case and if not, if you feel only judgment from God, I encourage you to stop and reflect on why that is your image of God. Where does that come from? How can your image of God transition to one only of love and generosity?Today’s gospel is an excellent place to start. It includes probably the most referenced scripture passage of all time, John 3:16 which says: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. The passage goes on to say that Jesus was sent not to condemn the world but to save the world and he does this by death on the cross. He is the truth and the light. This is good news. No, this is fantastic news!My image of God has certainly evolved over the course of my life and through my ever-deepening relationship with God. Sometimes I have this image of God like a parent who, when her child or teen does something stupid, just lowers her head and shakes it in disbelief. God must have done that with the Israelites, as we read in the first reading.

I’m sure he did that with the apostles and the early Christians and no doubt with us now. But then I picture God chuckling and wrapping his arms around us, knowing our imperfections and offering forgiveness anyway. Jesus did that for us. His crucifixion offers us the way to salvation and not just a few but all of us. We don’t need to earn it; we just need to respond. Our acceptance of this free gift is choosing to believe that, despite our imperfections, brokenness, occasional wrong decisions, God’s love is unconditional. We don’t have to wait to be perfect, happy, mature, rich, smart or have our stuff together in order to be in relationship with God. He wants us here and now so he can wrap his arms around us in forgiveness, comfort and love.Most often we talk about God’s love for us collectively. To be quite honest, only in the last couple of years did I have a true personal realization that Jesus died for me. I hope you believe this about yourself too: he died for you. Look at the gospel again and read it to yourself:For God so loved me that he gave his only Son, so that I will believe and not perish and have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn me, but that I might be saved through him.

If we believe this and accept God’s gift of salvation through Jesus, then we have to come out of the darkness and live in the light. As we come towards the end of Lent and prepare for Holy Week, let us all examine our image of God, our personal relationship with God, and our own dark areas. What is the Good Friday of our lives that needs God’s light and love? It’s there for each and everyone of us. Don’t wait.

Today our Confirmation Year 2 teens embarked on our Confirmation retreat. This year, we had a new date and a new venue (Gindling Hilltop in Malibu), but the same mission: To allow the teens to encounter Christ and to advocate discipleship. I believe that we were successful.

I have been blessed to watch this encounter for almost a decade and it never ceases to move and motivate my spiritual life as well. With the help of the testimonies of our peer, young adult and adult leaders, the goofy ice breakers and the participation in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament I can honestly say that vibrant evangelization is at the forefront of our retreat.

Every retreat there seems to be, what we call in Youth Ministry, the “retreat high” and there is no doubt in my mind that our teens are currently feeling this. This tends to happen when you fall in love, or realize that someone loves you. This is what happens at most retreats; the realization of God’s love and the reciprocation of it tend to lead to this feeling.

Let us pray that after this retreat the understanding of God’s love is held onto, especially after the “retreat high” subsides. God’s love isn’t conditional, and it is there even in our busyness and our failure to recognize it.

With that said, it is still important to go on those “dates” with God, to reignite the feeling. For this Lenten season, I challenge you all to take time to spend with God. It doesn’t have to be a retreat (but if you can, go for it), but maybe time in the chapel, silent time in scripture or even listening to some music that resounds God’s love for us.

I also wanted to take this time to thank all of you who donated to our Peer Leader Retreat Fund. It was because of you we were able to send all 40 of all our leaders at a reduced cost.

Your generosity always amazes me and on behalf of the leaders, I’d like to say that we are truly blessed to have such a strong parish family that truly cares for each other.​God Bless,Brett BeckerYouth and Young Adult Minister

It was my great joy last Sunday to accompany 13 people from our parish, along with their godparents and families, to St. Julie Billiart Church in Newbury Park where they celebrated the Rite of Election with Bishop Robert Barron. This rite is an important ceremony, conducted on the First Sunday of Lent in every diocese of the world, with the adults, teens, and school-age children who will be baptized at the upcoming Easter Vigil.

After the Rite of Election, these candidates are referred to as the “Elect.” Our parish community is blessed this year to have 13 Elect: April Arguelles, Abigail Booth, Brittany Carruth, Shay Carruth, Joshua Castillo, Trinity Gunnels, Adan Guzman, Alonzo Guzman, Robert Henson, Daniel Mendoza, Isabel Mendoza, Alina Miller and Bryan Petrie.

Since the Rite of Election happened to fall this year on a 3-day holiday weekend, some of our Elect gave up family trips in order to celebrate the Rite. This speaks highly of their understanding of the importance of Baptism.

Sometimes we forget the importance of our own baptisms, perhaps because we were infants when carried to the font. The 40 days of Lent are designed by our Church, in her wisdom, to prepare not only the Elect for their baptisms at Easter, but to prepare all of us to renew our own baptismal promises, spoken long ago by our parents and godparents.

“Election” means choice. Our Elect have been chosen by God, as have we, to be disciples of Jesus and to embrace his mission as our own. Baptism is not meant to be just for our personal salvation. Rather, it is for the salvation of the whole world! We are baptized into the Body of Christ to be Christ's eyes, ears, mouth, heart, hands, and feet in the world today. We all have been given the gifts and talents necessary to continue Jesus’ mission, each in our own unique way and according to our particular circumstances.

May our Lenten practices this year help us to recognize our gifts in order to follow Jesus more closely and with greater generosity. During the coming weeks, let us journey together with our Elect to the waters of the font, eager to renew our mission as disciples!